1 Week Update (a little late)

I know I am a little late for a 1 week update, especially since they are almost 2 weeks old, but just pretend that I am posting this 5 days ago....

The girls are doing GREAT!  And they are certainly acting like identical twins.  The doctors and nurses keep joking about how easy the girls are making their jobs since they are doing everything together.  Here are some of the things that they have done together (without physically being together):

~they both needed a dose of surfactant at the same time (helps stimulate lung development)

~both of their supplemental oxygen levels have gone down from 8 to only 1/2 a liter

~they both came off the CPAP on the same day to a high flow nasal canula

~a couple of days later they both went from the high flow nasal canula to a normal canula

~they both needed to go under the "lights" the same day for the same amount of time (only 24 hours)

~they are both on full feeds (all nutrients coming from fortified breast milk)

~because of the one above, they both got rid of their IV's on the same day

~they both weaned themselves off of the temperature probe at the same rate

~they both started breast feeding on the same day

~they even usually poop at the same time

.  It truly is making it easier for me to keep track of everything.  I am having a hard enough time keeping track of who is who in all the pictures :)  

Speaking of pictures.....

Naomi under the "tanning lights" to help with jaundice.  The nurses called her a sun worshiper this day~ she was loving it!  

Colette extra comfortable while she is getting a full tummy from her feeding tube (in the bottom left hand corner).

Naomi's leg.  If you enlarge the picture you can see how wrinkled her skin is on her thigh.  

Colette's leg~ it is the same width as my thumb!  As you can tell from the picture above, their thighs aren't much bigger.  

Naomi's foot with her IV in.  They had to change their IV just about every single day :(  

Naomi's leg with her ID tag.  They are too small for bracelets, so they have a piece of paper taped to their leg with their ID number on them.  It also identifies them as BabyA and BabyB.  We might be keeping these on for a while after they come home to help us not get them mixed up :)

Colette snuggling with a rolled up blanket.  She loves to sleep all tucked in.    

Naomi, unlike Colette, loves to sleep with at least 1 limb sticking out most of the time.  

Naomi's arm~ the same size as my index finger.  

As of Sunday Naomi was 3.1 pounds and 16.1 inches and Colette was 2.15 pounds and 16.5 inches.  They both dropped weight (which is normal for any baby) but are now gaining again.

As of today (Friday) Naomi is at 3.5 pounds and Colette is at 3.2 pounds.  Both girls are starting to get the hang of breastfeeding.  That may be the only way I can tell them apart at the moment.  Naomi will nurse very slow and steady while Colette will nurse in quick strong bursts. 

They have progressed so much in the last week (almost 2 weeks).  Korby and I are so thankful that they are doing as wonderfully as they are.  However, with every improvement or step in the positive direction Korby gets more and more nervous about them coming home too soon.  

We are pretty much past any of the scary or major problems with preemies, but we still have quite a ways to go before these little girls are ready to come home with us.  I have to keep reassuring Korby of this.  It will be crazy busy when they do finally come home, but it will be so wonderful to finally be together as a whole family.  Since Vivian can't come into the NICU, we haven't been all together as a family since the babies have been born~ one of these days...... just not too soon for Korby's piece of mind ;)

Gaining Some Perspective

I have learned so many different things from everything we have experienced so far with the pregnancy and I am continuing to learn during this new phase of life with babies in the NICU.

One thing that I am learning is perspective.  Yes, being in the hospital for almost 7 weeks was a very long time, but when compared to how long I will get to hold, love and treasure these little girls it wasn't very long at all.  It just depends your perspective.  Every day in the hospital, especially the time I was on full bed rest, I would wake up in the morning and tell myself~

 "I can do this for one more day.  It will be good for the babies.  Today will be one less day that we will have to spend in the NICU."

It would have been so easy to mope and groan about being there (which I did do quite a bit), but overall I tried to have a semi-good attitude about the situation and look at things in the right perspective.  

That being said~ it has been hard to convey in pictures just how small and delicate these little girls are.  So, some advice we got from other NICU parents is to take "Perspective Pictures" (which is how I got on a roll of talking about perspective).  Anyway, here are pictures of the girls that will hopefully give you a better perspective of their size.  

And please don't make fun or laugh~ one of these days I will upgrade my 6 year old phone and get something cooler :)  BTW~ my phone is smaller than an i-phone.

Naomi

Colette

Have I mentioned how in love I am with these girls?!?  I will say it again~ I absolutely love and adore these two sweet beautiful girls! (who are doing wonderfully I might add!)

It Was All Worth It

Yesterday was a WONDERFUL day!

I was able to hold my girls for almost an hour each!

They did great!

I was in heaven!!!!

Here I am holding Naomi.  They call it "Kangaroo Care" which is holding the baby skin to skin.  As soon as Naomi was placed on my chest she let out a big sigh and then she didn't move again for the entire hour.  Her breathing has been continuously faster than normal since she was born, but while I was holding her it was the calmest she has ever been.  She just needed some "mommy time."

Later that night I was able to hold Colette.  She stayed awake for a little bit while I was holding her and she had her eyes opened.  Then she settled in~ she and mom both took a little nap together :) 

They can only stay out of their isolette (covered, temp controlled bed) as long as all their stats are stable.  The nurses were surprised that both girls did so well out of their beds for that long.  It was such a special, humbling experience to hold each of these little miracles.  They are sooo..... tiny!  But they are mine!  And being able to hold them made it feel just that much more real that these two little girls are here.  

Here is Colette with her eyes opened.   

Here is Naomi with her eyes opened.  She is holding onto my finger with her left hand :)

Beautiful Faces and Sibblings

For the first few days the girls had CPAP's on.  It was a breathing device that covered most of their face and  their head.  Today both girls were able to be weaned down to high flow nasal canulas.  We are excited for this because it is the first time we have been able to see their beautiful faces but even more excited that their oxygen needs are lowering and they are taking steps towards breathing on their own.  

Say hi to Naomi!!!!

Here's Colette!!!

I love how Naomi has her right hand up by her face and Colette has her left hand in the same position.  

Here are the boys meeting Naomi for the first time with Korby.

Shayden didn't get see the girls for the first couple of days since she had a little sniffle.  But today she was able to come in with the boys to finally meet her new sisters.  Here they are saying hi to Naomi. 

We are slowly becoming more accustomed to the routines and language of the NICU.  They are so good to answer all of our questions and explain things to us.  Our little girls are getting excellent care and we are so thankful for all the nurses and doctors who are doing everything to keep these little ones growing and developing!

Birth Story and Pictures

Here's how it happened~

Saturday night around 9 pm the girls heart rates started showing a pattern of mild distress.  Nothing to rush me off to the OR, but they figured that I was close enough that it wasn't worth waiting another 1 1/2 days.  So, they started prepping me for surgery and everything was ready to go when they realized that I had just eaten about 4 hours ago.  Since it wasn't an emergency to get the girls out and it would have been more risky for me to undergo surgery with a full stomach, my doctor decided to wait until the morning to deliver the girls.  Needless to say, I was so worked up and anxious that I was up literally all night long!

Sunday morning around 8am they started re-prepping me for surgery.  They came and got me at 9:30 and we went back to the OR.  Korby had given me a blessing the night before.  I was anxious and nervous all night and morning, but as soon as I got into the OR I had a complete feeling of peace, joy and happiness~ my girls were almost here.  

I was given a mix of a spinal block and an epidural, hooked up to a couple of other things and then the sheet went up.  I couldn't see a thing that was going on and Korby didn't do very well to watch any of it.  Mostly he would just hold the camera up over the sheet and try to get shots of what was going on.

Naomi Lynn was born at 9:47.  She weighed 3.3 pounds and was 15.4 inches.

Colette Anna was born at 9:48.  She weighed 3.1 pounds and was 16.1 inches.

They were passed immediately from the doctor through a window directly into their NICU room.  They pulled down the sheet so that I could see the babies for the quick seconds before they were passed on.  I wasn't able to see Naomi at all, but I did get to see Colette be delivered.  They were so small and purple, but beautiful at the same time.  While they were finishing up my surgery we could hear the babies crying on the other side of the window~ it was so wonderful to hear them!   

The surgery lasted almost exactly 1 hour.  They took me back to my Labor and Delivery room to recover while Korby was able to go into the NICU to see the babies.  I think it was a little overwhelming for him to see them for the first time.  We had seen other babies in the NICU before, but never that small.  About 1 hour after the surgery they took me back to the NICU (in my bed) to see the girls.  I couldn't see them very well since I couldn't sit up or move much, but I did get to be by them for a little while.

Then they took me upstairs to my new room where I will be for the next few days before going home.  I am right next door to my previous room.  Needless to say, I was exhausted!  Korby and I both took a nap and spent the rest of the afternoon just resting and waiting for my epidural to wear off enough for me to be able to at least handle sitting in a wheel chair to go downstairs to see the babies again.  

Korby's mom and dad came that afternoon to see that babies.  Korby took them to see the girls while I was still resting.  Later that night my mom came to see the girls.  I was feeling well enough to sit up, so I got to be wheeled down to see the girls with my mom.  It was such a special experience.  They are definitely tiny, hooked up to a lot of different monitors, and it is overwhelming to have all of that doubled.  At the same time it was so humbling to see how precious they are and to feel their sweet spirits.  

So far my recovery has gone extremely well.  I think Heavenly Father knew that after what I have gone through the last 6 weeks that I wouldn't be able to handle much else.

The girls are doing well~ all things considered.  The nurses keep saying that they are "acting appropriate for their gestational age."  For being born at 32 weeks they are developmentally exactly where they would expect them to be and having the issues that most babies that early experience.  So far, they haven't had any major issues.  There are so many different monitors, and so much information to take in that we haven't had a chance to figure it all out yet.  As time goes on I will be able to give more specific information about their situation, but for the moment we are trusting all the doctors and nurses and we are very confident that our girls are getting the very best care possible.    

Here is Colette being born!   

Here is a picture of me after the babies were both out~ I literally couldn't stop smiling.  It felt so wonderful to know that everything we went through with this pregnancy was worth it to have both of our little girls finally here!

Here is a picture of Colette on her "birth" day.  I love how relaxed she looks with her arm out to the side.

Here is Colette this morning with her eyes opened.  The nurse was doing her "cares."

Here is Naomi on her "birth" day.  It looks to me like she is already practicing some yoga/ mediation .  That's my girl!

Here is Naomi with Korby's hand.  She is so tiny and precious!

It still doesn't feel quite real that these girls are ours and that eventually we will be taking them both home and adding them to our already busy household.  But we are so thankful to our Heavenly Father who kept them safe and protected to get them here.  We also want to thank and acknowledge how grateful we are to all our friends and family for all the prayers and well wishes that we have received on behalf of these little miracles.  You have made it much easier to endure the last 6 weeks and have boosted our spirits to hopefully be able to endure the next 6 or so weeks before these little girls are ready to come home.  

More updates and pictures to come! 

Happy Birthday!

We are exactly 32 weeks today and these little girls will be delivered at 9:30 this morning (one day earlier than planned). We had a bit of a scare last night with babies heart rates~ nothing major but enough that the doctors didn't think it was worth waiting an extra 24 hours to deliver them.  However, they soon realized that I had just eaten a couple of hours prior and thought it was too risky for me to have the surgery at the time.

So, I didn't sleep the entire night last night and now we are just waiting for our turn to go back to the OR.  

I am SUPER anxious and nervous (I've never had a c-section before), but I am really excited to finally meet these little girls.  It will be a new kind of stress to have them in the NICU, but the stress of getting them here will finally be over.  

Korby or I will try to post soon.....

Growing

Today I am 31 weeks and 3 days! 

We had our last ultra sound/ doctors appointment today! 

The girls are 3.1 and 3.6 pounds!

We are getting so close!